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Super Bowl drives supersized wireless traffic

After such a thrilling end to the Super Bowl, it's no surprise that a record number of sports fans e-mailed, text messaged, and called each other during the big game.

And the carriers weathered the surge in traffic despite a jump in usage. The wireless carriers may not always have the best record at big confabs--many fared poorly at the Consumer Electronic Show--but they stepped it up for the Super Bowl.

Ensuring adequate wireless coverage is crucial because the high-profile event garners so much scrutiny and attention. For Verizon Wireless, which is the official NFL wireless sponsor, the … Read more

For watching the Super Bowl, my TV beat my iPad

I'm a big fan of my iPad, but not for everything. Case in point: this year was highly touted as the year that the Super Bowl would be streaming for free via dedicated apps and NBC's Web site. It sounded promising; I love two-screening it for big sports events. So, I gave it a whirl.

The experiment lasted about a minute.… Read more

Deleted Facebook photos still viewable

Windows 8 may kill the Start menu button, the Super Bowl spawned tons o' tweets, and Facebook admits that deleted photos can still be accessed.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Super Bowling for ad dollars (roundup)

Eli Manning connected with Mario Manningham for the big game's biggest play, but did tech advertisers connect with consumers? CNET takes a look.

Samsung flubs its Apple Super Bowl dis Samsung's big Super Bowl ad for the Note may have brought on a few chuckles, but it failed in one big way, says CNET's Josh Lowensohn.(Posted in Apple Talk by Josh Lowensohn) February 6, 2012 10:10 a.m. PT

Should Apple heed Chrysler's, GE's Super Bowl make-it-here message? One of the salient themes in Super Bowl ads was bringing manufacturing back to America. … Read more

Clint Eastwood in 'Super Bowl ads: Winners and losers (second half)'

Technology performed an outstanding social feat during the Super Bowl halftime show. It made Madonna sound like someone people used to enjoy in the early '90s.

The technology ads, on the other hand, didn't offer too much uplift or consistency.

Halftime saw Hulu revealing its full ad featuring Will Arnett. This was a very pale imitation of the original Alec Baldwin ad from three years ago.

Just when you were looking for someone to wander in and clean house, someone sounding like Clint Eastwood turned up. He was talking about Detroit, about how it was fighting, clawing, winning. He … Read more

The Super Bowl ads: Tech winners and losers (first half)

The Super Bowl is a game in which even the punters get excited.

It's also a game in which America looks at ads that tell it how the corporate world sees, well, America. If the tone of ads is stupid, it means that brands think America is two laces short of a ball. If the tone offers originality, it says the brand looks upon its customers--potential and current--as representing hope.

But with so many companies now dependent on technology either to manufacture their products, to distribute them, or to communicate them, some might wonder just what is a tech … Read more

Aliens crave Earth wives in Chevy Volt Super Bowl ad

Think Chevy Volt and you might not think "out of this world."

It's not enjoyed the best sales or the finest safety reputation.

So in order to create a little love during the big game, Chevy offers up some aliens who are fascinated by the advanced design that goes in to making such a green-dream of a car.

The aliens seem rapt by what might be beneath the hood of the Volt.

They're friendly, if slightly purple, types who merely want to take this human knowledge back to their planet.

However, it seems there is one … Read more

Coke's polar bears ready to talk Super Bowl live online

If you don't like Coke's polar bears, you simply haven't come to terms with your childhood yet.

It really wasn't all your Mom and Dad's fault. So please try and enjoy the central and socially addictive role that the cuddly white ones will be playing during the Super Bowl.

They will be watching the ad online at CokePolarBowl.com. And they'll be reacting to every Tom Brady sack and every New York Giant fumble.

Coke promises that not only will you be able to chat with the bears while the game is going on, … Read more

Apple's Siri the butt of Doritos Super Bowl ad

Make Siri mad and she'll let you know. For you might not realize that she actually has large metal tentacles that can get right into your chips.

This, at least, is the premise of a Super Bowl spot from Doritos.

No, they can't use the name "Siri." Instead, this cell phone helper is called "Suzie." But you know exactly who they mean.

Suzie is efficient at ordering pizza.

However, you shouldn't try to tease her by offering her a Dorito. You might think you're being clever in that Suzie has a mouth … Read more

Obama supporters pick Patriots, GOPers go for Giants?

Super Bowl Sunday offers no respite from partisan bickering in this presidential election year.

A Silicon Valley startup found a strong overlap between how people feel about who will win today's big game and who they'd like to see win the presidential election in the fall.

Mountain View-based Saygent conducted a survey asking 205 people for their Super Bowl predictions and then did a bit of data crunching using its voice response and analysis platform. Saygent's algorithm looked at the way people talked about the teams and the game ("by analyzing the way people talk about the game we can infer who is actually knowledgeable and who is taking a stab in the dark," the company says).

Saygent then filtered out "people with very low trust or a strong bias" to come up with a prediction from its "trusted crowd" of 90. The result? the New England Patriots by three points.

That's almost identical to the official line, which had the Pats by 2.5 points at last check, and is--frankly--not that interesting.

But Saygent, in what it admits is not an exact science, also asked people in the same survey who they planned to vote for for president. When it took a look at those political preferences, it revealed quite a rift:… Read more